Light Roast Clone

[Grindhouse]

Hey Guys

I'm fairly new to roasting courtesy of the humble popcorn maker and candy thermometer. I'v been trying to crack (pun intended) a good light, medium roast blend in the style of Seven Seeds / 5 Senses / Axil / Small Batch / Padre / Proud Mary / Market Lane etc but with no luck.

Has anyone roasted anything similar. I had a good light / medium roast result as a single with the uber expensive
Colombian La Esperanza Gesha Cerro Azul variety from coffee snobs but at $65.50 this is not practical.

So my question is are there beans available on beanbay that could match the quality of the above roasters and if so could this be achieved through a popcorn maker? Originally I thought the popcorn maker couldn't achieve this quality but after the good result with the expensive Colombian i'm not convinced and was wondering are the beans available here able to achieve this style and if so which ones and what recipe would you recommend?

Thanks in advance

[flynnaus]

So my question is are there beans available on beanbay that could match the quality of the above roasters and if so could this be achieved through a popcorn maker?

Welcome.

You can achieve commercial quality roasts with the beans on BeanBay but using a popcorn popper, I doubt it, unless it is modified. Popcorn roasters tend to roast fairly quickly which means the bean isn't roasted evenly. The outside looks done but the bean hasn't roasted all the way through, often ending with a sour result, especially with light roasts.

You need to be able to control the roast profile and adjust according to the bean type. You might occasionally get lucky with the popper but it would be difficult to repeat the result.

Consider upgrading to a better roaster which offers more control if you are serious about roast quality: Behmor, Genecafe, HotTop, iRoast.

Once you can consistently achieve the right roast levels, then play around with blending. I wouldn't bother with trying to emulate the blends you listed. Start with the basics: roast two or three beans and try mixing them in various proportions. It will take time and it is wise to take notes. Plenty of reading and advice on these pages and on other sites.

[Grindhouse]

Hi flynnaus,

Thanks for taking the time with your reply. I think your advice is wise and when the finances are ready I will upgrade. At the moment i'm reaching 215c in around 3 minutes so as you say and uneven roast is most likely the culprit.

Cheers

[deegee]

[QUOTE=Grindhouse;555033 . At the moment i'm reaching 215c in around 3 minutes so as you say and uneven roast is most likely the culprit. When the finances are ready I will upgrade. Cheers[/QUOTE]

Hello Grindhouse - Three minutes is pretty fast, even for a popper. There are a few things you can do to slow your popper down a bit until you can upgrade. Check out some of the threads here:- Home Roasting - Tips, Tricks, Ideas for some of the tricks/mods you can try.

To get really good profiles from a popper needs serious electrical mods, but now that some cooler weather is on the way, some of the simpler ones will help a little.

The good result you got from the Colombian Gesha was perhaps it is because your popper created a self-blend - a single origin roasted to two or three different levels then blended together.

Flynn's advice is good, keep it simple at first, a few post-roast blends with two or three beans. At first you can try varying the proportions, then changing one of the beans.
Have a read of this thread ( or at least some of it ) :- http://coffeesnobs.com.au/blending-r...use-blend.html

[Grindhouse]

Thanks deegee I will look into and see if I can make a few mods.

Cheers